University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
21-9,13-5Big East
Xavier
11-17,6-11Big East
UConn Completes Epic Senior Night Reverse Sweep vs. Xavier
11/19/2021 9:49:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
STORRS, Conn. – Welcoming Xavier for its final game at Gampel Pavilion this season, the UConn women's volleyball team worked its way back from a 2-0 deficit to reverse sweep Xavier, 3-2, Friday night on Senior Night.
Xavier (11-17, 6-11 BIG EAST) put UConn (21-9, 13-5) on its heels by taking the opening two sets (25-22, 25-21), but the Huskies stormed their way back (25-23, 25-18, 15-12) to cap its home record at 13-3 for the season.
The duo of senior Caylee Parker and junior Jasmine Davis fueled the attack, as Parker led all players with 20 kills and Davis followed with 19. Graduate student McKayla Wuensch raked up 49 assists and 15 digs, junior Allie Garland added in 11 kills, and senior Kennadie Jake-Turner contributed five blocks.
With its entire senior class in the starting lineup, UConn pushed out a 4-2 edge early on thanks to a strike down the center by senior Anna Petrova. Xavier pushed out a 5-0 run to swing the scoreboard in its favor, 10-7, but the Huskies used back-to-back blocks to knot it at 16-all. With the Musketeers up 24-20, Parker went for a kill before junior Mia Ruffolo served up a pair of aces to fend off match point thrice, though Xavier took the opening set.
The Musketeers stormed out to a 10-2 advantage in the second set until Wuensch got the offense going with a setter dump, and Parker followed with two straight aces to trim the gap to 11-6. Xavier started to pull away, making it a 23-16 game, but the Huskies came alive with a 4-0 run, and the blocking duo of Davis and sophomore Taylor Pannell cut the deficit to three. However, the Huskies would come no closer as the Musketeers took a 2-0 lead at the break.
Regrouping out of the locker room, UConn started the third set with a 3-0 run before Xavier went on an 8-2 tear to take the lead. From there, both teams exchanged points as the energy mounted and the score held at 20-all. Garland and Wuensch went for back-to-back kills to get the crowd on its feet, and Davis put the dagger in the set with a swing from the left side as the Huskies forced a fourth frame.
The fourth set continued the exchanged of points until Garland went for two straight points on a kill and solo block to push the Huskies ahead, 11-9. UConn took advantage of four straight Xavier errors to remain in front, 15-11, and continued to stay in command before closing the frame with a 4-0 run to force a winner-take-all fifth set.
Parker went off for four kills to start the fifth set as UConn jumped out to a 6-2 grip. The Huskies maintained the upper hand as Davis bookended a 3-0 spurt to make it a 12-8 game, and Parker capped the comeback with her 20th kill for the final dagger.
UConn is locked into the No. 3 seed for the BIG EAST Championship and will start its postseason journey on Friday, Nov. 26 in the semifinals.
